Thursday, 28 May 2009

Summer is coming. The time of camping and icy cold drinks. I've been working on developing a freeze dried beer that comes in a small pack and rehydrates fully carbonated with all its alcohol intact. Once it goes to market you can say you knew me when. In the meantime, I can help with getting that warm six pack or vodka cooler cold in minutes. Geeky, yes, and yet you'll be so much more popular at summer parties.

Understanding how salt and ice interact will save you from many a warm bevvie this summer. Water freezes at 32 degrees F. (0 degrees C ) When the compound salt is added to water and ice, a new solution with a lower freezing temperature is formed. As the salt and ice molecules mix, the melting ice takes up heat energy from its surroundings and the surrounding water cools down fast.

Why should you care? Well, this little scientific nugget can keep you from ever having to drink warm drinks again. Instead of dropping your warm beverages into a cooler with ice, try adding water and a healthy dose of salt. And, there's no need to worry if some of that salt spills over into your drink. A little salt is good for you. Balances the electrolytes and makes tequila go down easier.

If you are in North America, you will likey be using iodized salt, which is table salt mixed with a minute amount of potassium iodide, sodium iodide, or sodium iodate. Iodized salt is used to bump up the amount of iodine in our systems and protect us from endemic goiter, a thyroid condition that arises from lack of iodine. In Europe, sodium fluoride or potassium fluoride is the more common additive, especially if they do not add fluoride to their drinking water. You may notice this in France. You'll also notice a slight yellowish tinge to the salt. Don't panic. Different culprit than yellow snow. They add a wee bit of Vitamin B9, hence the discoloration.

No matter which salt you choose, bada bing... icy cold bevvies in minutes.

PALEONTOLOGICAL GEMS

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FOUR RAINDROPS...

Four individual raindrops falling on the high peaks of the Rockies could easily end up thousands of miles apart -- one flowing north to the Beaufort Sea, another reaching the the Gulf of Mexico, a third would be absorbed into Hudson Bay to the east and the last into the vast Pacific.

TYAUGHTON FOSSIL FIELD TRIP

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WEST COAST AMMONITE - VIPS

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GODS OF THE SEA

Ammonites were a group of hugely successful aquatic molluscs that looked like the still extant Nautilus, a coiled shellfish that lives off the southern coast of Asia. While the Nautilus lived on, ammonites graced our waters from around 400 million years ago until the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years.

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CUDDLY CUTIE PIES

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Some 270 million plus years ago, had one wanted to buy waterfront property in what is now British Columbia, you’d be looking somewhere between Prince George and the Alberta border.

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MYOMANCY | MICE PREDICTOR

Myomancy was a method of divination by mice. Their behaviour was observed and taken as a omen of what was to come. Modern scientists study the movements of mice more than the ancient myomancers did and for ends that are not dissimilar.

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DIATRYMA TRACKWAY

Rare bird, reptile and mammal tracks have been immortalized in the outcrops of the Chuckanut Formation. Diatryma tracks have also been found there. These massive flightless birds reached up to 9 feet in height and made a living in the grasslands and swamps of the Eocene.

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TROPICAL CHUCKANUT

The siltstones, sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the Chuckanut Formation were laid down about 40-54 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, a time of luxuriant plant growth in the subtropical flood plain that covered much of the Pacific Northwest.

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OLYMPIC PENINSULA

One of the most beautiful drives in the Pacific Northwest is the coastline along the Olympic Peninsula from Port Angeles to Neah Bay. This stretch of road meanders alongside the Clallam Formation, a thick, mainly marine sequence of sandstones and siltstones that line the northwestern margin of the Olympic Peninsula, western Washington.

DINOSAUR TRACK

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The Farallon Plate took a turn north some 57 million years ago, sweeping much of western coastal Oregon along with it. By the middle Oligocene, the Cascadia Subduction Zone was in full force with growing pressure erupting volcanoes along the Western Cascades, a pattern that was to continue well into the Miocene. The soft ocean sediments of Oregon contain beautifully preserved gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods.

CANCER FUNDRAISER 2011

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Rain long foretold takes a long time to pass; if it arrives on short notice, it soon will pass. For the folks I go out collecting with all hikes, digs and kayak trips are rain or shine. Safety is always top of mind and prepping for the weather is paramount. Keep yourself safe whatever part of the world you choose to explore. For forecasts of marine weather in Vancouver call 604.666.3655 or visit http://www.weatheroffice.com/

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ARTWORK BY TINA BEARD

Tina Beard is an artist and paleo enthusiast on Vancouver Island. She does some of the most exquisite artwork I've had the pleasure to behold.